[ApolloFortyNine]

I can't edit my post any more, but it makes me sad that this is sitting negative, when what I did was point out that food delivery is a luxury. This whole business of delivering everything has only really taken off in the last 3 years.

If you want to create an echo chamber, this is how you do it.

[CamperBob2]

Everything beyond the most rudimentary food, clothing, and shelter is a luxury. It's not very insightful to stick your nose in the air and loftily proclaim something a "luxury," as if your opinion should be taken into account in the boardrooms and executive suites at Uber.

[ApolloFortyNine]

>Delivery is expensive. It's time-consuming, and customers are rarely willing to pay the true cost of it.

>Most of the restaurant delivery services were bleeding hundreds of millions of dollars last year. They've had a resurgence because of the Covid-19 but that's a blip compared to a normal situation.

>If people think it doesn't cost that much money to operate, then all restaurants shouldn't have a problem having their own delivery service.

This is the comment I was responding to. Someone was discussing how much it costs to deliver and why people should be willing to pay more than 5% fees. And my comment that it's a luxury on top of a luxury is nothing more than an explanation of why people aren't willing to pay more.

>It's not very insightful to stick your nose in the air and loftily proclaim

Honestly I'm not sure why you took a comment calling food delivery a luxury so personally, I'm sorry it offended you.

[CamperBob2]

It didn't offend me, no worries. But I do use these services quite a bit, I appreciate the role of the driver (and tip accordingly), and I would prefer that the companies in question survive and prosper.

Is it a "tragedy" if food delivery services cease to exist? Not to me personally, but it would be an inconvenience, and likely something much more serious to the people who work there and to those who drive for them. It's unlikely that those people appreciate being dismissed as unnecessary. In a capitalist society, the fact that they are a luxury doesn't have any bearing on whether they deserve to earn a living. I'm sure you indulge in more than a few luxuries yourself, just not this particular one, and that's OK.

(My comment was) nothing more than an explanation of why people aren't willing to pay more.

Except you went a bit further than that, didn't you?

Honestly I don't expect delivery services to survive, and I don't think it would be a tragedy if they ceased to exist.

You were probably downvoted for appearing insensitive. It happens. Take the 'L' and move on. I usually shoot for a long-term baseline of zero, myself, because I agree with your criticism that HN tends to sound like an echo chamber.